


Unbreakable

by CrookshanksAgentofOWCA



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Barty is the Boyle to Bellamort's Peraltiago, Bellamort, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Evil Love, F/M, Fluff, I say Voldemort CAN love FIGHT ME, Mind Reading, i decide what's canon, marriage...sorta, soft!bellamort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:55:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23275132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrookshanksAgentofOWCA/pseuds/CrookshanksAgentofOWCA
Summary: Bellatrix and Voldemort can't get married, but that doesn't mean they can't make certain promises to each other.
Relationships: Bellatrix Black Lestrange/Voldemort
Comments: 3
Kudos: 25





	Unbreakable

**Author's Note:**

> Listen, if you don't see Bellatrix and Voldemort as two evil people with a very loving relationship, than this just isn't for you. I wrote it for myself based on some personal head canons and figured I'd publish it cause the world needs more Bellamort fic.

“I wish we could get married.”

Bellatrix’s eyes snapped open. She had been drifting off to sleep, happily cuddled up with the Dark Lord, but his words had woken her faster than a Reennervating Charm. She wondered briefly if she was dreaming, but no, everything was too real. She could feel the breeze blowing through the window, Voldemort’s cold skin against her own, the soft blanket covering them. Dreams were never this detailed.

“What,” she said, than flinched at how stupid she sounded. Voldemort sighed.

“You heard me.”  
“Yes, but…well, I thought maybe I’d imagined it.” She certainly had fantasized about something like this happening countless times.

“You didn’t.” Voldemort shifted on to his side so they were face-to-face. There was a look of soft longing in his red eyes. “I was just thinking about us and…well, we’ve been together how many years now?”

“Depends on what you consider the beginning of our relationship.” It had been a slow build-up from pining to obsession to mutual attraction to “I enjoy spending time with you but I can’t love” to “We’re in a relationship but I still can’t love” to “I care for you deeply and trust you more than I though I could trust anyone but unfortunately I am incapable of love” to “Oh…I love you.” There had been ups and downs—intimacy was something that scared Voldemort and he had a tendency to pull away whenever he felt he was being weak or giving her too much power. He was also rather self-conscious and would go out of his way to act distant with her anytime the lower-level Death Eaters started getting too suspicious. (Most of the Inner Circle knew about their relationship, but were smart enough not to mention it around him.) Ever since Voldemort made the incredible discovery that not only was he capable of love, but had been loving Bellatrix for years, things had become a bit more stable. The Dark Lord had officially moved into Bella’s room, rather than spending most nights there but spending some Apparating to somewhere random, where he’d usually wander around aimlessly and get no sleep. He told her he loved her frequently, still struggling with the words, but proud he could say them. He had even started making her coffee in the mornings. (The first few attempts at this had ended in a variety of disasters ranging from a fire to coffee flooding the entire house.) Bellatrix wasn’t entirely sure where her lover thought all this begun, but she was happy with the way things were now.

“When you first kissed me,” Voldemort replied, reaching out and brushing a strand of hair out of Bella’s face. She smiled at the memory.

“I was terrified that night. I though you were going to kill me. I was just thinking “ _At least I’ll die happy”_ when—”

“I kissed you back. I was scared too, you know. You took me by surprise. I didn’t know what I was feeling or what was happening, just that I wanted more of it. More of you.”

Bellatrix’s grin widened.

“Well, now I’m all yours!” Voldemort pulled her closer and they kissed, more slowly and comfortably than they had that first night. When they pulled apart, Bella did some thinking.

“By your definition, we’ve been together six years.” She laid a hand on his heart. “The best six years of my life.”  
“Really?” he frowned. “I was rather horrible to you at some points.”  
She shrugged.   
“You’re worth it.”  
“I’m glad you feel that way. Still…I want you to know I deeply regret all the pain I’ve caused you, Bella. I’m not sure I can ever make it up to you.”

“Oh, I can think of a few ways you could make it up to me,” Bella replied, kissing him again.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Although I feel as though I would enjoy those ways too much for it to truly count as making reparations. Anyway, I was just thinking about how far we’ve come and I realized most normal couples would have gotten married by now.”

“We’re not a normal couple though,” Bella pointed out, internally glowing at the fact that he had referred to them as a couple. “You’re the Dark Lord. The future leader of the Wizarding world. And maybe someday, the whole world.”

“True, but you’re my most faithful servant, the fiercest member of my army and the only person I’ve ever loved.” He ran his fingers through her hair. “I can’t rule the world without you by my side.” Bellatrix squeezed his shoulder lovingly.

“Nothing would make me happier. I will be by your side my whole life. And in your bed, hopefully.”

Voldemort chuckled.

“Well, yes, that too,” he admitted. “I just…wish we could make it official.”

Bella stared into his eyes, searching for any sign of insincerity and found none.

“You’d really want to marry me?” she whispered, suddenly rather choked up.

“Of course. I mean, if we could…you’d want to marry me…right?” He seemed uncertain suddenly. Bella leaned forward and kissed him, then whispered,

“More than anything.”

“Okay. Good. I wasn’t sure—I mean, you seemed shocked and I know your experiences with marriage haven’t been the best—” She laughed.

“I’m pretty sure being married to someone you love would be very different from being forced into an arranged marriage. And I’m only surprised because…well, I never thought…I mean, I just can’t believe how lucky I am.”

She opened her mind, letting her love for him flow out, so he could sense it. A second later, similar feelings echoed from his mind, along with a great longing and an image of the two of them standing together, hands joined, Bella in white dress and Voldemort in formal dress robes, a faceless wizard declaring them bonded for life. How many times had she dreamt of that exact scenario? And now, not only was the Dark Lord imaging it too, he felt comfortable enough to show it to her. She kissed him again and joy rang through their connected minds. Feeling energized from their physical and mental contact, Bellatrix propped herself up on one arm and dared to ask,  
“So why don’t we get married?”

Voldemort’s mind rippled with surprise, desire and amusement.

“You know why.”  
“Do I?”  
“Well, for starters, you’re already married.”

She flopped dramatically onto her back.

“Ugh! Don’t remind me!”

“I don’t like it either, but that is the way things are.”

“So let’s kill Rodolphus.”

“We’ve been over this,” Voldemort replied patiently. “He’s a useful Death Eater and he comes from a powerful family. Killing him would cause too much trouble.”  
“What if we made it look like an accident?”

Voldemort laughed.

“Bella, you are _terrible_ at making a murder look like an accident!”  
“I am not!”  
“Yes, you are! Remember that Auror; Swiftuns?”  
“Yeah. They didn’t catch me!”  
“No, but they didn’t believe his head _accidently exploded_ either. You lack subtlety, Bellatrix.”

“And yet it still took you ages to figure out I was in love with you.”  
“Well…in my defense, I had no prior experience in that area.”  
“Neither did I!”   
Voldemort sighed.

“Fair enough.” Running his hand down Bella’s arm, he added,

“Listen, someday, when our position is more secure, we’ll kill him. But for now, we’re in the middle of a war and we need all the soldiers we can get.”

“But I don’t want to wait!” Bella whined, burying her face in Voldemort’s chest. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

“Neither do I. But, for what it’s worth I am happy to have you now. We have to wait to get married, but we don’t have to wait to be together.” Bellatrix twisted her head so she could look into his eyes.

“That’s true. In a lot of ways, we’re more married than Rodolphus and I have ever been.” Voldemort smirked at that.

“That’s right. At your wedding, instead of ‘I do’ you said ‘Well, my mother says I have to.’ And didn’t you pretend to be sick so you’d have an excuse not to kiss him?”

“I was _not_ pretending! Getting married to _him_ made my stomach churn. But the day wasn’t a total waste. You danced with me for most of the party.”  
“Well, you looked so miserable, I was determined to cheer you up. I should have realized how I felt about you then. It was the first time I’d ever cared about someone else’s feelings.”

“If I thought there was even a _chance_ you’d return my feelings, I never would have married him.”

Voldemort looked a little sad at that, as he imagined what could have been.

“Well…like you said, we’re already practically married. And what is marriage anyway? Just two people agreeing to love and be faithful to one another. We could do that.”

“You mean…make a sort of…official declaration of our relationship? I’d love to, but I thought we were supposed to be a secret.”  
“Not to the whole world, just to each other. Like a promise.”

Bella nodded thoughtfully.

“So wedding vows without the wedding, basically?”

“Vows! Yes, exactly,” replied Voldemort happily. “Vows….”  
There was a sudden sharp silence between them. Bellatrix wondered if Voldemort was thinking the same thing she was thinking and hastily closed her mind in case he wasn’t.

“So, a vow…” she repeated cautiously.

“Yes,” Voldemort answered, clearly deep in thought. “Or something of the sort.”  
“Maybe something stronger than a traditional marriage?”

“Ideally, yes.”

“Something completely binding.”

“Something…unbreakable, perhaps?”

Bella sat bolt upright.

“Do…do you really want to do that? For real?” Her voice trembled slightly. Voldemort sat up as well, a bit more slowly.

“Just to be clear, we are talking about making an Unbreakable Vow, right?”  
“I hoped so.”  
“Then, yes. Why not? I…I love you, Bella and I want us to be together forever. We can’t get married but this is just as good—better, really!”

Bellatrix’s eyes gleamed with joyful tears.

“You really mean that?”

“Bella. You _know_ how much I hate talking about my emotions. Why would I have bothered saying all of that if I didn’t mean it?!”  
“You do understand what happens if you break an Unbreakable Vow, right?” Bellatrix knew death was her master’s greatest fear and that he would go to any lengths to avoid it. He took her hand.

“I know, but it doesn’t matter, because I’m not going to break it. I’ve never…loved anyone but you, Bellatrix. And I’ll never love anyone else.” She blinked furiously, trying to stop the tears from over flowing and, when that failed, simply whispered,

“I feel the same way about you, Voldemort.”

He smiled the same way he always did when she used his name. He liked the way she said it and he liked how much she enjoyed saying it.

And then they were kissing again. And again and again, quickly, fiercely, and in between kisses Bellatrix whispered,

“So when—should we—make this—Unbreakable—Vow?!”

“Let’s do it right now,” Voldemort hissed. She moved back an inch so she could see his face more clearly.

“Really? Like _now_ now?”  
“Why not? One of the perks of not having a formal wedding is not having to spend ages planning it. Besides, I think we’ve waited long enough, don’t you?”

Bella nodded fervently, thinking of all the years she had spent pining after him, and the years when they had finally grown closer, but she had always been on edge, afraid she’d do something wrong and he’d pull away. She never dared to hope they’d get this far.

“Definitely,” she responded, giving him another kiss.

“Alright then. Let’s go.” Voldemort climbed out of bed, gently pulling her up too.

They were already down the stairs, out the door and running through the woods hand in hand, giggling a bit, when Bellatrix realized she wasn’t exactly sure where they were going.

“Wait,” she panted, skipping over a tree root. “Who’s going to be our Binder?”

“Ah. Well, I had a thought about that,” Voldemort replied cautiously. “Obviously we could just kidnap any wizard and force them to do it. But I feel that lacks a personal touch. Do you agree?”  
“I do. As fun as that sounds, I’d like whoever binds us to… _want_ to do it.”  
“My thoughts exactly. So it has to be a Death Eater and it has to be one of the Inner Circle, because the others don’t know about us.”  
“It also can’t be Lucius, because I hate him. I suppose one of the Carrows might do it, or maybe Travers….”  
“I was thinking we could ask Barty.”

“Barty…hmmmm….”  
“I mean, we don’t have to. But he’s very dedicated to our cause and he seems…supportive of our relationship.”

“That’s an understatement.” Barty Crouch Jr. was always hounding Bella for cute stories about the two of them and had started bouncing with excitement when Voldemort had put his arm around her at the last Death Eater party.

“I think it’s a brilliant idea. He’ll be thrilled.”  
With that agreed upon, they Disapparated together.

They arrived with a CRACK just outside Barty’s small flat in London and rapped on the door. Moments later an exhausted-looking Barty emerged, still in his pyjamas. He brightened slightly when he saw who his late-night visitors were.

“My Lord!” he yelped. “And Bella! What an honor! Come in! Or do you want me to come out? Do you have a mission for me?!”

“Not exactly,” Bellatrix said, grinning.

“But we do have a…proposition for you,” Voldemort chimed in.

Barty looked thrilled.

“Brilliant!” he cried, dashing across his sitting room and rummaging through the desk drawers. “I’ve been waiting my whole life for this! I’ve already filled out the adoption forms; you just need to sign them. What colour ink should we—?”  
Voldemort sighed.

“Barty, for the last time, we’re not going to adopt you!”

Barty wilted.

“Did you honestly think _that’s_ what we came here for?” Bella snorted.

“No,” snapped Barty, hastily shoving a few rolls of parchment back into his desk. “I—I was just joking. Obviously.”

“Listen,” Voldemort said, as patiently as he could manage, “I know your relationship with your father was disappointing. And I assure you, I understand. But you’re an adult now; you don’t need parents. I’m not sure it’s even legally possible to adopt someone who’s already of age. Besides, Bella and I are hardly parent material.”

“I dropped Regulus when he was a baby,” Bellatrix added.

“Right. Right. Yeah.” Barty forced a smile back on to his face. “So, uh, what can I do for you?”

“Can you perform an Unbreakable Vow?” Voldemort asked.

“Yeah, I think so. Who are we forcing to promise you something?”  
“No one.”

“Oh. So that was, like, a hypothetical—”

“Meaning no one’s _forcing_ anyone into this Unbreakable Vow,” Bella explained. “We want to do it.”  
“What? Wait…you mean you two are making an Unbreakable Vow to each other?”  
They nodded.

“Why? My Lord, surely you can trust Bellatrix to do whatever you ask without—”

“I know I can trust Bella. She’s not just making a vow to me; I’m making one to her as well.” Barty looked bemused.

“When you put it that way, it almost sounds like—” He gasped. The couple smiled at each other, realizing he had gotten the point.

“…a wedding.” Barty finished in an awed whisper.

“That’s the idea,” Bella confirmed. Barty squealed and clapped his hands together, bouncing slightly on his feet.

“Calm down, Bartemius.” Voldemort looked somewhat alarmed.

“Sorry, my Lord.”  
“Bella and I were talking about our…relationship and how we’ve been together for a while and we thought we’d like to do something to make it more…official. Something permanent.” It was Bellatrix’s turn to squeal and jump up and down as the reality of what they were doing hit her. The Dark Lord, who had always claimed to be so cold and unfeeling, was calmly telling Barty that he wanted to be with her for the rest of her life. She also appreciated how he tactfully ignored her rather embarrassing outburst.

“Why don’t you just get married?” Barty asked. Voldemort sighed.

“First of all, that is a very personal question. Do remember who you are speaking to.”  
Barty flushed.  
“Of course. I’m sorry, my Lord. I meant no dis—”

“Second of all, Bellatrix is already married.”  
“Not my fault,” Bella mumbled.

“And third, we are both highly wanted criminals. We can’t exactly walk into the Ministry and ask for a marriage license.”

“Not with that attitude we can’t.”  
“Bella!”  
“Just kidding! Really, I actually like this better. It’s more magical and more binding and more…dark.”  
“My thoughts exactly. So, Barty, will you be our Binder?”  
“I would be honored, my Lord!”  
“Excellent. Let’s begin, then.” Voldemort wound his arm through Bella’s and guided her towards the middle of the room.

“Wait. You want to do this _now?_ ” Barty cried.

“YES!” They yelled in unison.

“But—but I’m still in my pyjamas!”

Bellatrix shrugged.

“So are we.”

“And—and there’s no one else here!”  
“Yes,” Voldemort replied, “because we’re doing this _secretly_. Because our relationship is secret.”  
“Right…yeah….” Barty rubbed his neck awkwardly and Bella pointedly avoided eye contact with him to keep from laughing. As much as the Dark Lord liked to pretend their relationship was a secret, it was common knowledge among the majority of the Death Eaters and several members of the Order of the Phoenix.

“Besides,” Voldemort continued, “If there were more people here, this would resemble a party and I loathe parties.”

“But this is basically your wedding! It’s important! Don’t you at least want your sister here, Bella?”  
“Um, no. She’d probably try to talk me out of it.” She raised her voice a few octaves, mocking Narcissa. “An Unbreakable Vow is a really serious thing, Bella. Are you sure you’ve thought this through?” She rolled her eyes. “Like I’ve thought about anything else for the past decade.”

“We don’t need anyone else here, because this is just about Bella and I,” Voldemort added. “You’re only here because we need someone to cast the spell. But we can find someone else if it’s too much for you….”  
“No, no, no! I’ll do it; I want to do it! I just want to make sure it’s perfect; that’s all.”

“It will be. I’m perfect and Bella’s perfect, so nothing involving the two of us could be anything less.”

“Okay, fair point. Can I at least have a few minutes to prepare a speech and change into something more formal?”  
“NO!” The couple replied in exasperation.

“Fine.” Barty pulled out his wand and conjured himself a bowtie. Voldemort gave him a look, but allowed it. Bellatrix and Voldemort knelt on the floor, face-to-face. Barty started to kneel too.

“What are you doing?” Voldemort asked.

“I shouldn’t be standing above you, my Lord.”

“I appreciate your deference, Barty, but the Binder usually stands above the pair making the Vow. We can make an exception just this once.”  
“Yes, of course, my Lord.”  
Bella rolled up her right sleeve and across from her Voldemort followed suit. Then they reached out and clasped their hands together. Bellatrix’s skin tingled as the Dark Lord’s long fingers wrapped around her wrist and she felt a chill that had nothing to do with how cold he felt. They had held hands, and touched in other ways, plenty of times before, but this was different. The significance of the promises they were about to make made this feel more intimate than any moment they had shared before.

Barty, looking slightly teary-eyed, cleared his throat, stood a bit straighter and placed the tip of his wand on their joined hands. The couple’s eyes met, red and brown both brimming with a pure, powerful love. Bellatrix took and deep breath, gave her lover’s hand an extra squeeze and asked,

“Will you, Voldemort, love and remain faithful to me our entire lives?”  
There was no doubt in Voldemort’s voice as he replied,

“I will.”

Barty beamed as he channeled a thin, but bright jet of fire out of his wand and around the pair’s joined hands.

“And will you, Bellatrix, love and remain faithful to me forever?”  
Bella was both smiling and crying as she said,

‘”I will.”

Another wire of fire shot out of Barty’s wand and twisted around their hands. The light grew brighter and brighter until it was almost blinding before it vanished. There was a moment of awestruck silence, than Barty cried,   
“I declare you bonded for life!” and waved his wand, causing flower petals to rain from the ceiling. Without letting go of his hand, Bellatrix pulled Voldemort forward and kissed him, hard. He responded enthusiastically. They only stopped when Barty’s cries of delight reached a pitch potentially harmful to the human ear.

“Really, Barty,” the Dark Lord sighed. “You need to find something to amuse yourself with apart from other people’s relationships.”  
“I’m sorry, my Lord; you two are just so perfect together!”  
“We know we are,” Bellatrix assured him, grinning. She gave Voldemort another quick kiss as they got to their feet.

“Would you like anything to eat?” Barty asked. “I don’t have any cake, but I have some biscuits—”

“For the last time Barty, this isn’t a wedding,” the Dark Lord chided. He entwined his fingers with Bellatrix’s. “It’s more important than that.”

“But thank you for performing the spell,” Bellatrix chimed in. “It really means a lot to us.” Barty was slightly thrown, as this was the first time he could remember hearing her say the words “thank you.”

“I was happy to do it. Anything for you two. Really, thank _you_ for letting me be a part of something so—”

“Barty, stop being weird.”  
“Sorry Bella.”

“Well, we really should be going,” Voldemort said. “Try to get some sleep Barty.”  
“How can I sleep? This is the best night of my life!”

“Mine too,” Bella added. “But, again, it’s weird from you.”  
“Come back anytime!” Barty said gleefully as he followed them to the door. “And if you ever do have a real wedding, I’d be happy to officiate that too.”  
Voldemort rolled his eyes, but Bella said,

“We’ll keep that in mind.”  
“Great! Bye, Dad! Bye Mum!”

He quickly shut the door before they could object.

“Mine too,” Voldemort murmured as they stepped out into the crisp night.

“What’s that?”  
“This is the best night of my life, too.” Bellatrix stumbled slightly and he shot out an arm to keep her from falling.

“Really?” she asked, bewildered.

“ _Yes._ Why do you find that so surprising?”  
“Well, you know. I—I know you love me….” She hesitated.

“I do. I have just sworn to do so eternally.”  
“I know. And I couldn’t be happier. But, I figured…I mean, for you…I always thought there was nothing more important than the war and your power. That that comes before everything, even us.”  
“That used to be true. For years, I cared about nothing but learning as much magic as possible and using it on anyone who stood in my way. But…all that time, I was empty. Everything I did was just for the sake of doing something; there was no actual purpose. But when I met you…you changed everything. I was fascinated by you, not just for how you could serve me, but every part of who you were. And then you taught me how to have fun, how to truly be able to trust someone, how to love. You made me happy. I’d never felt happy before. I’d never really…felt anything. You gave me meaning. So, yes, the war is important. But it’s pointless without you.”  
Bellatrix felt herself tearing up again.

“I love you so, so much,” she whispered. “More than anyone’s ever loved anything.” Instead of answering out loud, Voldemort nudged his mind against hers, so she could feel how pure and strong his love for her was herself.

Simultaneously, they leaned in for a kiss, and, with no Barty nor anyone else to interrupt them in the deserted street, continued kissing for quite some time, before Disapparating hand-in-hand.


End file.
